Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid watched two completely different sporting events last week, that both invoked passion for the games on the field of play and for the supporters on the sideline.

Last week a story on SunLive grabbed Sid's attention, so last Thursday he headed for Mount Maunganui Sports Centre to catch some of day one of the trans-Tasman Indoor Bowls test series.

In a trans-Tasman sporting world, where Australia pretty much rule the roots, New Zealand have dominated the mats since the Henselite Trophy series was introduced in 1975.

The official records show, that the Kiwis have now won the biannual tussle for the symbol of trans-Tasman indoor bowls on 17 occasions, with the teams from over the ditch winning just five times.

In a remarkable run of form, the Black Mats won the Henselite prize in Runaway Bay in Queensland in 1993, to hold the trophy in New Zealand until Australia finally triumphed again in Pukekohe, during 2009.

The Aussie representatives then defended the trophy in 2011 before the Black Mats struck back in 2013 and 2014.

Western Bay of Plenty hosted the event for the first time last week, with the New Zealand reps again proving too strong to hold a viselike grip on the big prize, with a 38-28 victory.

Intensity and concentration are two words that lead the way in describing indoor bowls. Both descriptive words were on display in spades, at what was originally known as the Mount Sportsdrome, last week.

While the Mount Sports Centre was built four or five decades ago, the venue provided a degree of intimacy that the much bigger venues in town couldn't offer.

Taking centre stage were the six mats, surrounded by two temporary stands and plenty of viewing space both in front of the mats and on the balcony above.

Both teams were resplendent in uniforms displaying their countries national colours, with the black playing shirts of the New Zealand side emblazoned with a large distinctive silver fern.

The atmosphere in the room was intensely quiet, with restrained applause from the spectators for winning shots. There was plenty of animated discussion on the mat before each shot with the players clapping good shots from their team-mates.

On the other hand, Maramatanga Park on Saturday afternoon was as far away from the genteel applause of the indoor bowl test series as you can get.

A large number Te Puna and Tauranga Sports rugby supporters lined the Te Puna field, parked their cars on the vantage point of the opposite bank and stood in the sun on the veranda of the Te Puna club rooms.

Calls of ‘didn't you see that ref?', ‘they're standing off side ref' and ‘are you blind ref?' rang out in good hearted humor from both bands of supporters during the Baywide premier match-up.

After the match, the opposing fans gathered in the club house to replay the match and tell rugby yarns of past endeavours, over a cool ale or two. For the record the match was relatively close going into the last quarter, before Tauranga Sports kicked away to post a 42-11 victory.

For Sideline Sid, the weekend proved again that no matter the code, Western Bay sporting fans enjoy games with a relish and a rare passion.

See ya at the game.